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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd March 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 280

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      of a later period , when , under the successors of Alexander , the schools o * Asia Minor and of Rhodes eclipsed the waning glories of Athena , Sieyon and Argos , we-have > the Laocoon , the Farnese Bull , and the Dying Gladiator ; and in the sketeh of Greek art under the patronage of Imperial Rome we have the Bacchus of the Vatican , the Barherini Faun , the Nile , and the Apollo Belvedere . .. ¦" . One of the most interesting parts of the present volume is the chapter on the growth and character of artistic taste and culture in Rome after the close of the second Punic War , including a special , discussion of Cicero ' s relati on to art , a relation which may be taken as typical of the Roman point of view . Perhaps our readers will like to hear Professor Stahr himself speak on this subject : — In . Cicezo we have a man who attached less importance to his love of art than did many of his contemporaries—a statesman and man of affairs whose

      calling and inclination drew nun . towards altogether different pursuits—an author , among whose numerous works there is not one which is especially occupied jwith plastic art either historically or aesthetically considered ; and yet . we find in him a knowledge of the history and productions of ancient art , and a correctness of judgment in relation , to both , such as we rarely find under like circumstances in a similar personage of our own time . For Cicero is the man to whom ,, next to jPliny and Quinetilian , we owe the greatest part of our information concerning the style of the earlier Greek artists . In his works , generally , he sh . o \ vs himself to be an accomplished connoisseur of ancient art , and his books on oratory are full of traits which give e-vidence of this . He is accurately acquainted with the Various , styles which characterised the development of Greek art ; lie knows the relation of the individual great masters to each otherand the

      , rank due to < each' inthe history of art , and he not unfrequently derives from this knowledge very striking comparisons and illustrative parallels for the history of Orator ^ , Now the writangs inyrMch taeseilludtrations occur were destined for theCTiiltiyatedpublicinigeneraVfor yOungand old statesmen and orators , in a f wi , for readers f to M io pwtensioii to be regarded either as dilettanti or coniiofeBeuts , Thusy even in addressing this general public , he could depend on beingunderstood when he epokeof ; this characteristic style of Calamis , Canachos , Myron , Phidias ^ ar * d Polykletes , and of the respective value of the great Greek pa ^ fers , Zeusis , Polygnotus , Timanthes , Hicomachus , Protogenes , and Apellesir i&t * : ' ; he compared the oldest Latin version of the Odyssey with a Daedalian statue tae

      , or j ' Bphgs ; of the Old Roman poet Nseyius on the Punic War with a work of Myron's . How many statesmen of our time can ¦ boas t of a corresponding knowf «^ eeither in themselvesortheir readers ? ... Both Cicero and the public to vmoifx Ms works were addressed muM be regarded as having a love and knowledge of ^| fc > . even in spite of his protest to the contrary . Such a protest he makes where it suits him to assume that haughty contempt with which the old Roman . * £ *** » . P ^ tllstrongly representedl ^ among bis cbuntiymen , loVed to look down on everjrjbhing that bore the name of Greek culture . Cicero himself relates , that at thetime when he was a boy , even those distinguished orators and statesmen who ™ P prosecuted the most thorough study of Greek philosophy , literature and scienee > endeavoured carefully to conceal this from the great public of their own njation ; ; nay ; even put on the air of despising all such studies . In ins great work jje uratore

      , he makes the celebrated statesman and orator Antonius express himself cjuite Openly on this kind of inverted hypocrisy . Indeed Greek science , jhterature , and doctrine , stood -with the pre-eminently practical Romans , who TJVere ^ averse to all speculation , in much the same sort of reputation as the existing dqctHridwes and "ideologists" with the practical men of our own day . Hence ¦ ^ i ^* 18 ^ 8 quite naively , ttat he lad certainly studied in secret and by stealth the . rich andprofound . liteta % ureiof Greece , for not to have done so would bay ^ hown too brutal a stupidity ; but at the same time be had , throughout his 1 beld ** discreet to pay homage to the repugnance of bis nation , and in his public orations to . avoid the faintest sign of his having occupied himself with such V Greek : matters , " lest he should lose authority among his own people . As a specimen of Professor Stahr ' s style on auother kind of subject , we give some of his observations on the Apollo Belvedere : •—

      _ It is probable that this statue belongs to the time of Nero . The spot where at -was found was the favourite residence of this Emperor . Here he waa born here he made his magnificent entrance after his return from his artistic travel in Greece—here he remained during the tremendous conflagration , which laid twot hirds of Rome in ashes ; and the Dying Gladiator , which was also found in the ruuteof Antium , shows , no less than the Apollo , that the noblest works of plastic " # ? >? " e d this imperial summer residence . It is a deeply poetical thought Of le-ttetback pj that the Fury-dispelling god stood in the house of the crowned Orestes , who had ventured , with . the guilt pf matricide on his own bowI , to act tfie part of Orestes on the stagef . Not seldom , aa bis most confidential companions admitted , Ms disturbed senses were shaken by visions of the avenging deitieB with their whips and torches ; and it is quite conceivable that his guilxy conscience sought refuge under this image of the protecting God , * But even if this were nothing more , than an ingenious conjecture , one thing remains certain , namely , that in the expression of the Apollo ' s head lies the nobleness of that

      dmne indignation which Tacitus felt in the contemplation of that age and itB hideous crimes . And if it was really N " ero who gave the commission to the artiBt of the Apollo , one can understand that the great soul of the master , who was capable of producing this work , stamped on the lofty god of light and purity tKat expression of scoi-nfjiil indignation which every noble heart must experience in the contemplation of a world full of the moat debasing iniquity . For every g » e * t _ artiat , in his best works , can only embody the mental state whioh ia produced in him or suggested by the subject he undertakes to represent . Thus Titian , when he waa called onto paint the lovely blonde poisoner , Lucrezia Borgia ' A ™! % *»* Tnisbaad , opposite to the Holy Family , expressed , in -the famous picture m < the . Dresden Gallery , all the scornful reprobation of ihypocritioal vice wMoh he felt u \ his own soul . , * . ¦ _ , h , % extracts , however ,, do mo justice to . a work which ia chiefly valuable as ' j St ? W 9 » 9 » ftwWOt . fof . thiB sake of special information and beauty here and oi ^ -ff Those who can read German will , we hope , since the number of f : H e ^ an , Uerxnan bpoka is not overwhelming , be induced to procure Torso vf ^ 4 « ettiselYes ,, Rnd for those who do not read German it might be as well ii ' ^¦ SP ? Si . SWpwFft Pu blisher and industrious translator would undertake to give ^ ft » rPW % w ?| English edition , •¦ wiiii i , ! . ¦ ; ¦ . »!; ¦ I-.. ' ¦ " , —n — ¦ ¦

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      of Paskiemtch a little more than a hundred years later . Russia therefore was occupied a century in converting the C Jpian into aRussknta £ Xe ' tablishmg her power m the heart of Georgia , in wresting three or fou \?~ voices from Persia , and in carrying her frontier in Turkish AwLJS * f Mount Ararat to the bounds ofGouriel and Writia No doubt " the W Czar hoped that the upshot of his last fatal quarrel with the sick man would at least give him the entire control of the Ararat chain , the port oT ^ oum and Erzeroum so greatly desired . The importance of these conquests to t £ realmtaon of the views of Russia south of &e Caucasus vre Za ^ TJScuss W fc / ^ IT * 611 * ^ ° Se c ° n ( luests seen > to have been frustrated ; or to JSSl ^ S 7 ^^ y a « d Partially accomplished , to be renounced and wholly given up . But we cannot expect that Russia will so give up her Wchenshed designs because she has been once beaten . Nadir Shab . compelled £ ! f !? \ lt I ) erbe * aveseen their successors bound

      v ^^ . ^ ° *^^ ^>^ _ * £ * ** X P - ^ hirVan ' Peter himaelf * ^ aFmenTnow : ^ 7 cS S ?« l ° fl ^ ^ ™ L ^ a A f al of one «* his successors carried the Russian flag to Mesembna and Rodosto ; and dictated peace from Adrianople . lhe allies have destroyed-at least one Russian army ; and - they have swept the seas of her fleets and her commerce ; but these are incidental checks , pas - sing calamities , interruptions in the great dreams of the Romanoffs ; obstacles to be overcome rather than to be estimated as insuperable ; like the trials inflicted by Providence upon a chosen people . Whose will is the stronger , the will of Russia to conquer and break up Turkey and seize upon its potent capital , or the will of the Western Powers that Turkey shall not be broken up , at least not to the profit of Russia , and that hpr ™ r ; + al cWi , w 7 ~ ^

      , , seized ? It all depends on tlafc . If we are the stronger we shall prevail . But to say that the struggle is over because Sebastopol isdestroy ed is perfectly preposterous . It has only begun ; and all the treaties of peace will not prevent its renewal at some day of not far distant date—a little later or a little earlier . The question is neither more nor less than this : what is to be the position of the Russian race or races on this globe ? -a question not to be firmly settled , we fear , by peace conferences , but by fierce and sanguinary wars . General Monteith ' s book throws a strong light upon the past . The lesson it teaches is that what Russia has done Russia may do again under favourable circumstances , and those favourable circumstances are unfortunately of but too common occurrence in the history of Eastern monarchies . They are sure to recur . ^

      It was one of the many vast designs of Peter the Great to extend his empire to the Indus and the Persian Gulf , including , of course , the mastery of the Caspian Sea . With that view he prepared a fleet , and only awaited a favourable opportunity . Persia soon furnished . one . In 1721 the Shall Hussein , apprehensive of being conquered b y ; the Affghans , applied for aid to Peter . The Czar met the request by an instant and cheerful promise of assistance . Troops were collected at Moscow and sent down the Moskatva and Oka to the Volga . The Emperor repaired to the head-quarters of the Cahnucks , and easily obtained from the Khan a body of 5 , 000 horse . The fleet emerged from the Volga , and " on the 19 th July , 1722 , the imperial standard of Russia first waved over the Caspian . " How great have been the advances of Russia in that quarter since that eventful day ! The troops landed at Agrakhan a little to the south of the embouchure of the Terek , and mustered 30 , 000 fighting men . With this force Peter advanced as far as

      Derbend , which he entered and occupied on the 30 tb August . But here his career was brought to an end . A hurricane wrecked his transports and destroyed the stores accumulated for the campaign ; and leaving a strong garrison in Derbend , he carried back the main body to Astraclian . Such was the first move of the Russians towards Persia . Peter was far enough from assisting the Shah against the Affghans ; but he had succeeded in planting a Russian force in an important post , and from that day to this , with slight intervals of misfortune , the arnis of Russia have gradually extended , not only round the shores of the Caspian Sea , but far beyond the Caucasus . It is significant of the estimate formed by the Persians of the dangerous character of the aid to be expected from the Czar , that the Persian Governor of Bakoo would not surrender that fort until compelled by a bombardment to do so , The price , in fact , of Russian aid was the cession of the southern and western

      shores of the Caspian ; but Russia found to her cost that the expense in blood and treasure of establishing herself in the ceded territory was far beyond what it was worth ; nevertheless , she persisted with her wonted tenacity until Nadir Shah , sweeping with conquering strides over the whole region of the East , forced the Russians in 1736 , not only to quit the southern and western shores of the Caspian , but to evacuate Derbend under a threat from the terrible conqueror of being pitched into the sea . But the eyes and hands of the Czars nnd Czarinas were thenceforward never turned from the g ^ veat mountain chain dividing Europe from Asia . Domestic quarrels in Georgia soon furnished an occasion and a pretext for intervention . As early as 1762 , Tamaristlie Georgian chief , and I-leracliushisson , besought the Empress Elizabeth to accept their submission , and protect them from the i r ^ : . 1760 Heraclius imprisoned his father , and the old man escnping laid his grievances at the foot of the Russian throne . The usual consequences louowea

      ^• Mte ^ vi * ' . - i , tty £ BiA , $ QXj ; m of tee Caucasus . ¦^ # ^ TOWwfHwft ? r W ?»**^ , tymp # ignt if frittceJPasAiewitch in 1828 and 1829 ; and an ' * % «! % ^? &Wj « £ ^ Cawvsua / yom the time of Peter the ''^ % ^^ m& ^ n ^ V f , ™ and > Adrianopk . By Lieutenant-General ^^ Se ^ l ^^ S ^ ^ ^^/ 9 ? ^^ wogress of Ru 68 ia ° beyond ^ ^^ »» W ^« a ^ tTnroad ; Of Peter in 1721 , to the successful warfare

      . "lnl / bOthe first Russian troops passed the < aucasus , " after overcoming tremendous obstacles . The Russians never wholly ^ ave up possession ; and subsequent invasions took place , sometimes to resist the Turks , sometimes to defend Georgia from the Leaghians , until at the close of the last century , the Empress Catherine , " deeply affected" by tho misfortunes of Georgia , made arrangements for its permanent annexation to ltussia . Tho final act , however , was not consummated until the reign of the Emperor Paul , when Georgia agreed to n treaty of submission . «• According to tbiw treaty , Georgia became an integral portion of Russia , nnd the plans of Peter the Ureat for the subjugation of all the adjacent kingdoms—plans which had never been lost sight of by his successors , however they might differ in opinions and character—werqnow made an obiect of attention , and cverv

      cnaeayour was made to carry them into execution . " How those plans were earned out up to the year 1829 will be found from the narrative of General JMontoUn who carries the reader on from the acquisition of Georgia , through a m i Wars Rn ( l ^ "tfues nnd usurpations of Russia agam » t Persia ana Aurkey , dovra to tlie signature of tho treaty of Adrianoplo in 182 !) .

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      JJ O THE DEADER . rNo . 313 . Sat ^ . v

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 22, 1856, page 280, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2133/page/16/